When you take me by the hand
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day two hundred and twelve: Mike/Brittany showcase 1 of 7 Mike is accustomed to being dropped off to school early. That's okay, 'cause Brittany's there.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th cycle. Now cycle 11!_

_Doing a Mike/Brittany showcase, every other day for the next two weeks. **[1 of 7]**_  
_This whole series was inspired by a mix created by a very awesome and always kickass friend. Today's story was inspired by "Hey, Mickey"_

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**"When you take me by the hand"  
Little Mike/Brittany, aka "Tricycle" ;)**

Mike didn't mind getting dropped off at school early. Sure, he was only eight years old, it would be totally normal for him to get freaked out in the school yard, waiting for everyone to show up. But he wasn't… He wasn't alone. On that stretch of time, he was accompanied by the other early arrival, the only one he was fine at being called…

"Mickey!"

He looked up from the ball he'd been bouncing off the ground for a few minutes when he heard the call. He saw her come running, bag churning left and right, blonde hair flipping every which way… He could see her mother vaguely, in the distance. She walked off when the girl reached her friend.

"Hi, Brittany," he gave her a nod as she came to sit next to him, pulling her bag off her back and putting it aside. She kept her lunch box on her knees though. She'd lost it the previous week, and not for the first time. Her mother had gone so far as to tell her it was the last lunch box she'd buy her, then it'd be paper bags from now on. "You want to play?" Mike asked her, showing her the ball.

"Sure!" she nodded happily, then… She looked back down to her lunch box on her knees. She hesitated.

"Come on, you won't lose it. I'll guard it for you," he nodded, holding his hand out to help her up. She smiled, letting him pull her up so they could go to the wall. Mike was handed the box and he put it between his feet. He gave her a nod as though to prove her box was safe. He threw the ball, it bounced against the wall, and she caught it. They played like this until the others came. When one of them didn't catch the ball and it would roll off, she'd tell him she would get it – he had to stay with her lunch box.

She managed to hang on to this box for a few more weeks but then, like all the others that had come before, it too had gone. It was by no means an easy accomplishment, as Mike had done his best to make sure she hung on to it.

Then she showed up one morning, carrying a paper bag lunch and a shamed look on her face. She sat next to Mike, the way she did every morning. She put her school bag aside, and she looked down to the bag in her hands.

"I lost it…" she announced sadly. "I'm sorry…" He looked at her.

"Give me your lunch," he held out his hand. She blinked, handed him the bag. Was he stealing her lunch as payment because she'd lost the box he'd guarded so well. She felt like she was about to…

She heard a Velcro tear, something filled with rolling things, then something opened… After a few seconds, she finally looked over to see what was going on. Her concerns washed away when she saw what he did.

Mike had looked out for that box long enough to know its design even as his eyes were closed. So, with the help of his coloring markers, he recreated it on the paper bag, to the best of his abilities. When he was done, he gave her the bag back. As he was putting the markers in the pencil case, and the case in the pocket of his bag, Brittany stared at the beautified piece of brown paper.

"Thanks," she gave him a smile. He got up and, like other mornings, he held out his hand to get her up.

He'd done it by instinct, for wanting so much to just make her not be sad anymore. He never saw how much it would shape times to come for the two of them. He would figure after she was done with it the bag would end up as trash.

But if someone looked in a box under a floorboard under her bed, years later, the paper bag would be there, the only place for such prized possessions.

THE END


End file.
